The PGA Tour was thriving with stars like Greg Norman, Payne Stewart and Curtis Strange dominating the landscape. Popularity caused courses to pop up like late-summer thunderstorms, creating a multitude of avenues for players to get their fix.

It hit its peak at more than 492 million rounds in 2000-01, according to Golf Datatech, as the Tiger Woods affect maintained a stranglehold on the game, inspiring players across all racial lines to watch the PGA Tour — and hit the links.

More than a decade later, things are different.

Play has diminished nationwide, even at public destination courses like EagleSticks, once ranked 3 ½ stars and named among the country’s “top places to play” by Golf Digest.

The reasons range from economics and busy schedules to Woods’ decline and the decline of weekend golf warriors.

A downward trend

The numbers tell a dark story.

• According to Robert J. Vasilak of the World Golf Report, golfers in the U.S. are down to 27.1 million from 30.6 in 2003. Since 1990, the total number of players has diminished 1.9 percent to 10.2 and public golf properties have slipped from around 16,000 to 11,600.

• The National Golf Foundation said just 14 new courses were built nationwide in 2014 and 157 ½ closed — a net loss of 143 ½.

• Golf Datatech says the 462 million rounds played in the U.S. in 2013 was the fewest since the 441 million in 1995.

It’s a fearsome trend that has PGA professionals like Kelly Morrow and others concerned about the sport’s future. Morrow joined EagleSticks in 1992, two years after renowned architect Michael Hurdzan designed the Zanesville-area course in 1990. After working briefly for The Golf Channel, he returned to EagleSticks as the course’s general manager three years ago.

“I think (golf) will still exist,” Morrow said. “It’s like anything else. Eventually the supply and demand will weed out the weak.”

Morrow said his course saw a decline in play following the 9/11 tragedy, but it has remained relevant due to weddings and other events that offer alternative revenue streams.

“To me, there has never been a better time to be a consumer than now,” he said. “You look at courses like this one that used to be a $56 course, now you can play for $20-25 at certain times. When has there ever been a better time?”

Sports Time Ohio’s Jimmy Hanlin, of Cleveland, argues the sport is still popular.

An owner of three upscale courses, including Cumberland Trail near Pataskala, his “Golf 18” show with the LPGA’s Carling Nolan has spanned nine seasons.

A PGA professional since 1993, he also hosts a Saturday morning golf show on WKNR 850 AM in Cleveland. He knows the statistics as much as any course owner but shares more optimism than others.

“The people out there still love the game, they just don’t play as much,” Hanlin said. “The way the culture has changed, people just don’t have the time they used to have.”

Hanlin says the industry must adapt as the customer “is in a very good position” due to competition among courses. Adapting to customor needs is a critial element of survival, he said.

“They’re getting a better product for the price,” Hanlin said. “That’s most important. (Courses) have to be more flexible in their times, try to let other people understand that you don’t just play golf on Saturday and Sunday anymore. Try to do things in the evenings.”

The private sector has also taken hits.

Ashley Wilt, the head PGA professional at Lancaster Country Club in Fairfield County, has watched membership slip to 78 in his two years on staff, despite different attempts from the club to build it.

Having worked in the public and private sectors since turning professional in 2000 — he also worked at Piqua Country Club and at New Winchester Golf Course in Bucyrus, his parents’ course — he’s watched the rounds decline.

“I worked last Wednesday and we didn’t have our first round until 12:30 (p.m.),” Wilt said. “The biggest thing is if you can’t get them here, you can’t get them to spend the money. At a private club, you have to get them through the door. Most (members) don’t welcome outside play, or outside dollars.”

Wilt would like to invest in a course of his own, but the struggle is real.

“You see some great deals, but banks don’t want to talk to you because the cash isn’t there in their minds,” Wilt said. “(Golf) has lost 2-3 million players the last couple of years.”

Hanlin says the private sector, at least above the Mason-Dixon line, hasn’t endured the same struggle as some public offerings.

“The clubs that focused on family have done really well. The ones that have really good junior golf programs, they are still going well,” Hanlin said. “The ones that are impacted are the ones who haven’t tried to bring in younger members and made the kids important.”

Where are the kids?

Few have mingled in the junior golf scene as much as Mansfield’s Dick Henry, a Hall of Fame athletic director at Mansfield Senior and Marion Harding who has helped oversee the junior program at Twin Lakes Golf Course for most of 30 years.

While some establishments have directed focus away from junior players, Twin Lakes dedicates eight Mondays during the summer to development. The course closes half of its course until 11 a.m. to allow the juniors time to play.

“We cover the stance, grip, swing, basic etiquette and course management, and how to read greens, putting and all of the basics of the game,” Henry said. “The kids love it. Most can’t wait to get out. For some parents it’s babysitting, but the kids love it and we try to impress on them that golf is something you can do all your life.”

Todd Hixson of Zanesville has witnessed the change in the times — and the strain placed on teenage athletes. He admits he’s biased toward the game, even though he spent 12 years coaching baseball following a career as the head professional at Cambridge Country Club.

“Soccer, basketball, baseball, softball — all that stuff was not 24-7, 365, 30 years ago,” Hixson said. “Baseball for the kids was April through July, now these softball travel teams, these soccer teams, it’s year-around.”

He can see why kids might go in different directions than the golf course.

“A kid can go out at 6, 7, 8 years old and kick a soccer ball into the net (and get rewarded),” Hixson said. “Golf is hard to get good at. Society is so instant gratification and golf doesn’t work that way. You can have instant gratification by throwing a foul shot in the hoop.”

Henry agreed.

“(Specialization) is one of the biggest problems,” Henry said. “Your basketball coach wants you to be in camps and in the gym all summer. When do you have a chance to play golf?”

Cost for junior players, especially those needing clubs more frequently due to growth spurts, adds to the deterrents.

“I’m 67 and I just got a new set of irons, and those will probably last me the rest of my life,” said Henry, call called himself “a hacker like everyone else.”

“There’s no way I could afford to buy clubs every couple of years.”

Mike Saafield, the golf coach at Heath, said cost of playing and general difficult of the game are primary contributors to juniors choosing other sports.

But specialization plays an undeniable role.

“It’s painfully obvious that if you want to be a good baseball player that you have to play all summer,” Saafield said. “If you want to play football, you have to lift all winter and all spring and summer. I think kids nowadays just don’t have time to be kids.”

Saafield kept all 14 players who tried out for the Bulldogs this season.

“The last six years I’ve had between 11 and 15,” Saafield said. “The quality of the players have gone down.”

Saafield wishes he had the solution in terms of getting more kids playing.

“If I did, I would already be doing it,” he said. “I don’t know if some of the kids look at it and say ‘it’s hard to compete with the country club schools.’ I guess all of the kids who are really good have swing coaches and are taking lessons.